Attorney Eric Seitz announced today that he is willing to dismiss the pending lawsuit over the public schools’ “furlough Fridays” following Gov. Linda Lingle’s proposal to tap the "rainy day" fund. Lingle also said yesterday that teachers should agree to give up planning and collaboration days to end teacher furloughs.

Seitz said he appreciated the governor’s move and that he is prepared to participate in any settlement efforts that may “result in a reasonable and mutually agreeable resolution.”
“We will not initiate any appeals or file any further motions or pleadings at this time to enable the parties to meet and come to an agreement that hopefully will render any further litigation unnecessary,” Seitz said.
The governor proposed eliminating 27 furlough days between January and June 2011 by using the rainy day fund and converting planning days to classroom time, the first specific outline to end teacher furloughs that have been criticized nationally as too punitive on students. The seven furlough days that started in October and are scheduled through the end of the year would remain.
Tapping the rainy day fund requires two-thirds' votes by the House and Senate, either in special session or in the next regular session, which starts in January. Converting teacher planning and other noninstructional days to classroom instruction time requires reopening contract talks with the Hawaii State Teachers Association.